Special Report

This Is the County in the Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH Metro Area with the Most Deaths from COVID-19

Samuel Stebbins

Published: January 28, 2022 4:00 am

As the omicron variant spreads, new daily cases of COVID-19 have hit new highs in the United States and the virus continues to claim lives. So far, 862,863 Americans have died from the virus — more than the total number of Americans killed in World War I and World War II combined.

In the Boston-Cambridge-Newton metropolitan area, which covers parts of Massachusetts and New Hampshire, a total of 13,832 deaths have been attributed to the virus, equal to 287 fatalities for every 100,000 people. Nationwide, 264 deaths have been attributed to the virus per 100,000 people.

The higher than average per capita COVID-19 death rate across the metro area is being driven by one area in particular.

The broader Boston metro area comprises seven counties or county equivalents — and of them, Essex County has had the most COVID-19 fatalities per capita. So far, the per capita coronavirus death rate in Essex County stands at 372 for every 100,000 people.

Though it has the highest per capita death rate in the Boston-Cambridge-Newton metro area, Essex County ranks among the middle 50% of all U.S. counties or county equivalents by COVID-19 death rate per capita.

All COVID-19 data used in this story are current as of Jan. 26, 2022.

These are all the counties in Massachusetts where COVID-19 is slowing (and where it’s still getting worse).